Oxford and the Rhodes Scholarships

Preface
The Rhodes Scholarships, the oldest international educational fellowships, were
initiated after the death of Cecil Rhodes in 1902, and bring outstanding students from
many countries around the world to the University of Oxford. The first American
Scholars entered Oxford in 1904.
American Rhodes Scholars are selected through a decentralized process by which
regional selection committees choose 32 Scholars each year representing the fifty states.
Applicants from more than 300 American colleges and universities have been selected as
Rhodes Scholars. In most years, even after a century of competition, a Rhodes Scholar is
selected from an institution which has not formerly supplied a successful applicant.
Extraordinary intellectual distinction is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for
election to a Rhodes Scholarship. Selection committees are charged to seek excellence in
qualities of mind and in qualities of person which, in combination, offer the promise of
effective service to the world in the decades ahead. The Rhodes Scholarships, in short, are
investments in individuals rather than in project proposals. Accordingly, applications are
sought from talented students without restriction as to their field of academic
specialization or career plans although the proposed course of study must be available at
Oxford, and the applicant’s undergraduate program must provide a sufficient basis for
study in the proposed field. Through the years, Rhodes Scholars have pursued studies in
all of the varied fields available at the University of Oxford.

Election to the Scholarship is normally for two or three years, depending upon the
degree program pursued by the Scholar. A Scholarship, including required University and
college fees and a stipend for living expenses, may be renewed, at the complete discretion
of the Rhodes Trustees, for a third year for those pursuing a doctoral degree and whose
progress is deemed satisfactory. For those for whom the University requires fees in a
fourth year for the completion of a doctorate, and when no other external funding is
offered, again at the discretion of the Trustees, those fees will be paid, although not an
additional stipend. (College and University jobs are often available to those remaining in
Oxford in such fourth years.) The Trustees will not pay fourth-year fees in either the
Division of the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences or the Division of Medical
Sciences as Scholars may enter directly to work for a doctorate in these divisions in three
years. Scholars applying for a master’s degree in one of these two science divisions
should not, therefore, expect to be able to use the scholarship to go on to a doctorate.
Rhodes Scholars may not apply for the MBA or the Master in Financial Economics (MFE)
in their first year, but may pursue either of these one-year degrees in their second year,
following the completion of a different one-year master’s degree.
All educational costs, such as matriculation, tuition, laboratory and certain other fees,
are paid on the Scholar’s behalf by the Rhodes Trustees. Each Scholar receives in
addition a maintenance allowance adequate to meet necessary expenses for term-time and
vacations. The Rhodes Trustees cover the necessary costs of travel to and from Oxford.
 Part One: The Rhodes Scholarships
The Rhodes Scholarships owe their origin to the remarkable vision expressed in the
Will of Cecil J. Rhodes, the British colonial pioneer and statesman who died on March 26,
1902. He dreamed of improving the world through the diffusion of leaders motivated to
serve their contemporaries, trained in the contemplative life of the mind, and broadened by
their acquaintance with one another and by their exposure to cultures different from their
own. Mr. Rhodes hoped that his plan of bringing able students from throughout the
English-speaking world to study at the University where he took his degree in 1881 would
aid in the promotion of international understanding and peace. Dedicated alumnus though
he was, he was not moved merely by sentimental loyalty to establish the Scholarships at
Oxford. Mr. Rhodes believed that, in addition to its eminence in the world of learning,
Oxford University—with its emphasis on individualized instruction and on the community
life provided by residential colleges—offered an environment highly congenial to personal
and intellectual development.
Cecil Rhodes named nine beneficiary countries in his Will, and since 1904 other
countries have been added. In 1976, the scope of the Rhodes Scholarships was further
extended when legal changes in the United Kingdom permitted the Rhodes Trustees to
open the competition to women.
The United States, with an annual authorization of 32 Rhodes Scholars, provides the
largest of the national delegations, but the American contingent forms only a minority of
the total. Americans are joined in Oxford by Rhodes Scholars elected from Australia,
Bermuda, Canada, the Commonwealth Caribbean, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica,
Kenya, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. In a typical term,
more than 200 Rhodes Scholars are in residence at Oxford.
Though some aspects of the structure of the Rhodes Scholarships have been modified
from time to time, the founder’s basic purposes have been maintained. Mr. Rhodes
wanted the administrators of his Will to seek out those qualities of excellence in young
people which would contribute to “the world’s fight.” He specifically directed that no
candidate for a Scholarship should be qualified or disqualified on account of race or
religious opinions.
Mr. Rhodes wished his Scholars to benefit from education at Oxford and to return,
enriched by their experience, to contributive careers in their home countries, without
losing the affection for the University of Oxford and for the United Kingdom, which he
believed that experience would nurture. The Scholarships are for this reason best seen as
long-term investments in the growth of promising young persons and in the
encouragement of ever-closer international relations.
The criteria which Mr. Rhodes set forth in his Will still guide Committees of Selection
in their assessment of applicants. The Will contains four standards by which prospective
Rhodes Scholars should be judged:
(1) literary and scholastic attainments;
(2) energy to use one’s talents to the full, as exemplified by fondness for and success
in sports;
(3) truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak,
kindliness, unselfishness and fellowship;
(4) moral force of character and instincts to lead, and to take an interest in one’s
fellow beings.
 Underlying these standards is the aim that Scholars be physically, intellectually, and
morally capable of leadership, that is, persons who, in Mr. Rhodes’ phrase, will “esteem
the performance of public duties as [their] highest aim.” From this statement one may
infer that he expected his Scholars to play an influential part in the betterment of society,
wherever their careers might lead them.
Much of the distinctiveness of the Rhodes Scholarships stems from this
comprehensive set of criteria. Intellectual excellence is obviously required, but not in
isolation from other qualities. Mr. Rhodes sought Scholars who were more than “mere
bookworms;” he wanted their intellectual talents to be combined with concern for others.
Thus, the Selection Committees assign the highest importance to this blend of character
with intellect.
Because Rhodes Scholars are selected for their potential over a lifetime, importance is
properly attached to their capacity to meet the demands for physical fitness imposed by an
active career. Satisfying the second standard does not require evidence of outstanding
achievement in organized sports. All applicants, however, should be able to demonstrate
the physical vigor which will enable them to make an effective contribution to the world
around them. Moreover, American and other foreign students who are prepared to
participate in sports played in the English amateur tradition have typically derived
additional benefits from their Oxford experience. Many lifetime international friendships
have been formed as by-products of the athletic competition among Oxford’s colleges.
The annual task of identifying the 32 American students who best satisfy these
multiple criteria is assigned to Selection Committees throughout the United States.
District Committees of Selection are authorized to consider applications from applicants
who maintain their legal residence in the state(s) grouped within each District or who will
have received two years of college or university training and a bachelor’s degree in one of
those same state(s) before October 1 in the year following application. (The arrangement
of states by District is described in the Appendix.) Each of the sixteen District
Committees may elect two candidates as Rhodes Scholars-elect.
Committees of Selection have available to them a substantial body of materials
pertaining to the strengths of each of the applicants, including academic transcripts, a brief
essay prepared by the applicant, and letters from persons suggested by the applicant. To
identify those best qualified from a group of able competitors, the mandatory personal
interview plays a decisive role. In this setting, committee members can gain a fuller
measure of the relative strengths of applicants than the written record alone can usually
supply. At the same time, the interview affords applicants the opportunity to display their
strengths to the best advantage. Selection Committees are obliged to limit invitations to
those applicants whose credentials are the most outstanding. No applicant can be elected
to a Rhodes Scholarship without being interviewed by a District Committee of Selection.
Applicants must pay their own expenses in appearing before Selection Committees.
As the Rhodes Scholarship competition is open to applicants whose academic interests
are quite varied, Committees are structured to bring a variety of perspectives to the process
of evaluation. Typically, some selectors are from academic life and others from law,
government service, business, medicine, or journalism. At least one member will be a
scientist. Most Committee members will themselves have been Rhodes Scholars with
first-hand acquaintance with the demands of Oxford, but at least one, and always the
Committee chair, will not be a Rhodes Scholar.
 After the sixteen District Committees have named the Rhodes Scholars-elect, the
Warden of Rhodes House in Oxford seeks places for them in the departments and faculties
of the University and in its colleges. Because the Oxford colleges make their own
decisions on admissions, election to a Rhodes Scholarship does not automatically
guarantee entry to Oxford. Election to a Rhodes Scholarship is formally confirmed by the
Rhodes Trustees only after the Rhodes Scholar-elect has been accepted by a department or
faculty and by a college. Two samples of recent written work, approximately 2,000 words
each, are required for admission to read for any degree other than a mathematical or
scientific subject. Rhodes Scholars enter Oxford University in October of the year
following election. Deferment of the Scholarship cannot be granted, and no alternates are
chosen. Scholars are required to be full-time students at Oxford for the duration of their
degree program(s) and are required to reside in Oxford during term time except where
they obtain the permission of the Warden. Scholars may not go off stipend to return under
stipend at a later date.
 Part Two: Oxford’s Approach to Learning
The University of Oxford had its beginnings in the latter years of the twelfth century.
The first college was founded in 1249 as a residence for scholars attending the lectures of
the learned men who had been gathering there for several decades. Today Oxford
University has thirty-eight self-governing colleges which are responsible for the admission
of students and, for undergraduate courses, for their instruction. These colleges are
residential, so that Rhodes Scholars become members of the colleges and live in college
rooms, at least for part of their residency. Typically, Oxford’s colleges are not specialized
by subject area although certain of the graduate colleges do specialize in particular
subjects. Colleges are normally prepared to admit students to pursue any of the fields of
study available in the University and to prepare them for degrees at all levels, although
some colleges do not offer the B.A. in certain disciplines, and others may not admit
graduate students in disciplines without a tutor or fellow of the college in the same field.
As an ancient University, Oxford has extensive and impressive academic and aesthetic
resources. The architecture of the colleges is renowned for its history, variety and beauty,
and Oxford has become one of the prime tourist attractions in the world. Its scholarly
resources place it in the first rank of international research universities. The Bodleian
Library, a copyright deposit library since 1610, incorporates extensive collections of
books, manuscripts and periodicals. Other scholarly and artistic resources will be found in
the Ashmolean Museum, the University Museum, and smaller specialized museums, as
well as in departmental libraries and the libraries and art collections of individual colleges.
These collections contain priceless treasures accumulated over the centuries.
The system of education at Oxford has two notable characteristics which significantly
differentiate its program from those offered by almost all American universities and
colleges. Students wishing to read for the Bachelor of Arts degree in one of the Final
Honour Schools, which roughly correspond to American academic departments, will be
taught in small sessions by a tutor or tutors in his or her college or, as may be appropriate,
by a tutor who is a specialist in the field in another college. This approach to learning
requires the student to prepare normally one but sometimes two essays each week which
the student reads to the tutor, who will then discuss the essay in order to probe and refine
the student’s understanding of the assigned topic. This intellectual exchange accords each
student an extraordinary amount of personalized attention. In addition, the student will
have available a wide array of lectures given by resident and visiting scholars and, in
certain subjects, classes and laboratory exercises. In many subjects attendance at lectures
is voluntary, but both those who wish to supplement their tutorial studies and those who
seek an acquaintance with an area of knowledge far removed from their own specialties
will find these lectures of considerable importance.
Oxford University’s approach to learning is influenced perhaps as much by the
examination system as by the pattern of tutorials and lectures. Unlike the practices
followed by almost all American institutions of higher learning, Oxford University has
long insisted on a divorce between teaching and examining. While the former function is
performed primarily by the body of college Fellows, the latter is performed by University
boards of examiners with whom students have not studied at first hand. This arrangement
contributes to the development of a sense of partnership between student and tutor. The
challenge to the student is to master a body of material and to demonstrate abilities in
analyzing it; the challenge to the tutor is to nurture the student’s powers to do so. Colleges
take great pride in the successful performance of their students before the external
examiners.
 Some of the features of Oxford’s special system of undergraduate education are also
evident in the Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) degrees, which are among the most popular
choices for American Rhodes Scholars. These degree courses, available today in many
disciplines, offer a combination of small group or even individual instruction with
classroom instruction, lectures and research. As Oxford continues to increase its resources
devoted to graduate education, graduate degrees have become the course of choice for
most Rhodes Scholars. It is now as common for Rhodes Scholars to take two one-year
M.Sc. courses as it is for them to take the M.Phil, especially as there are many more one-
year M.Scs. being introduced.
While students in Oxford have the resources of a great international university to aid
them in their intellectual growth, Cardinal Newman’s observation more than a century ago
that Oxford is a place where students “educate themselves” remains true today. Collegiate
life is structured to provide an environment hospitable to that activity. The common room
and the buttery provide informal gathering points to encourage what Hume called “that
liberty and facility of thought and expression which can only be acquired by
conversation.” The student common rooms in the colleges enrich student life through
their sponsorship of a variety of activities ranging from debating societies to dramatic and
musical groups, and they promote a wide range of athletic competitions. Most colleges
have sports grounds nearby which provide tennis courts and playing fields for soccer,
rugby, cricket and field hockey. College boat houses on the Thames River (locally known
as the “Isis”) support major rowing competitions among the colleges. Athletes who are
selected to represent Oxford University against Cambridge University in major sports are
awarded the recognition of a “Blue,” the equivalent of an American varsity letter, or a
“half Blue” for a minor sport.
The academic year in Oxford is divided into three terms that are eight weeks long.
Terms are interrupted by six-week vacations in mid-winter and spring and by the “long
vacation,” which extends from late June to early October. During these vacations,
however, undergraduate students are expected to maintain their academic work by at least
undertaking, as the University’s Undergraduate Prospectus puts it, “the wider, more
leisurely reading which is essential to all courses.” The pace of work for graduate students
continues through the year.
The Oxford degree programs fall into three general categories: the undergraduate
course, advanced degrees by coursework and examination, and advanced degrees by
research and examination. The first, in which most Oxford students but small minority of
Rhodes Scholars are engaged, is the undergraduate course which leads to the Bachelor of
Arts degree with Honours. This degree ordinarily requires a minimum residency of three
years; in certain subjects four years of study are required. The University awards Senior
Status to students who have completed a bachelor’s degree before their arrival in Oxford.
(Completion of a bachelor’s degree is required before a Rhodes Scholar is admitted to the
University of Oxford.) Senior Status entitles students, in most cases, to fulfill the
requirements of the degree in two academic years, and Rhodes Scholars must complete
their work for a bachelor’s degree within the two years of the Scholarship. Courses
leading to the Bachelor of Arts degree are offered in the chief academic disciplines, and a
number of joint programs provide courses of study combining work in two or more
academic fields. Courses in certain fields lead to Master’s degrees in those subjects, and
require four years for completion (three years with Senior Status). These degrees are not
eligible degrees for Rhodes Scholars. Details about the requirements for these courses of
study are published annually in the Undergraduate Prospectus, accessible on the Oxford
University website, http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/index.html/.
 Advanced degrees are of two kinds: degrees taught in graduate courses (“taught
degrees”) and research degrees. No degree is awarded on the basis of the accumulation of
credits, and progress toward either type of advanced degree depends heavily on individual
student initiative. Various programs include classes, seminars and sometimes tutorials,
and always a supervisor, but graduate work at Oxford relies fundamentally on a student’s
ability to work independently to good effect.
Advanced degrees which are obtained by coursework and examination include the
Master or Bachelor of Philosophy degree (M.Phil., B.Phil.). Degrees which are obtained
by research and an examination based upon the candidate’s thesis include the Doctor of
Philosophy (D.Phil.) degree, an advanced research degree which usually requires three
years. Again, in recent years, as many Rhodes Scholars do two separate one-year M.Sc.
courses as they do a single two-year M.Phil. The D.Phil. is the research degree of choice
for Rhodes Scholars, and is pursued by almost one-half of a typical American Rhodes
class.
In recent years, as noted above, the Master of Philosophy has been among the most
popular degrees for American students. (In the Faculty of Philosophy only, this degree is
designated Bachelor of Philosophy.) The M.Phil. is awarded upon the successful
completion of a two-year course of study culminating in a short thesis and a group of
examinations similar in format to those required for the B.A. degree. Standards in the
M.Phil. programs are rigorously demanding, and admission to these programs, which is
determined by the relevant Faculty Boards of the University, is highly selective. Election
to a Rhodes Scholarship does not assure selection. Applicants for admission to these
M.Phil. programs must in most cases have a substantial undergraduate background in the
proposed area of study. Fields in which masters’ degrees may be pursued are listed in the
University of Oxford Graduate Studies Prospectus, available at
http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/postgraduate_courses/index.html/.
Candidates who aspire to the research degree of D.Phil. will in some cases (especially
in the sciences), first be registered as Probationer Research Students, and then proceed to
D.Phil. status after passing a qualifying test normally taken at the end of the first year of
work. It is permitted to take the D.Phil. after six terms (two years), but most people
require three years to complete a thesis which meets the high standards for “a significant
and substantial piece of research.” Students in the social sciences or humanities who wish
to pursue a D.Phil. will usually begin in one of the master’s courses in the same field. For
those who face fee liabilities in their fourth year for completion of such a degree and have
no other external funding for that fourth year, the Rhodes Trustees, at their discretion, may
provide fourth-year fees. They will not, however, provide fourth-year stipends for living
expenses. (College and University positions are often available in such fourth years.)
The pursuit of graduate work for a research degree of any kind at Oxford is best
understood as an individual opportunity in the company of other independent scholars to
utilize its resources for research, which include the Bodleian Library and other libraries,
and extensive laboratories equipped for advanced scientific research. Even Oxford’s
“taught” graduate degrees, such as the M.Phil., are characterized by much more
independent work than most Americans will have been accustomed to.
Finally, all candidates should understand that it is very difficult, and may be
impossible, to change degree courses after admission to Oxford. Course selection requires
careful consideration.
 Part Three: Procedures for Application
In the United States, applicants for Rhodes Scholarships must be United States
citizens, aged eighteen or over but not yet twenty-four on October 1 in the year of
application. They must also have academic standing sufficient to assure completion of a
bachelor’s degree before entering Oxford the following October in the event of election to
a Scholarship. No allowance is made for the expenses of a married applicant’s spouse.
Applicants apply as representatives of one of the fifty states: either the state in which
they will have received at least two years of college training and a bachelor’s degree
before October 1 in the year following application, or the state where they were legally
resident on April 15 in the year of application. In cases where an applicant may be
uncertain about his or her legal residency, such indicia as the address on the applicant’s
driver’s license, where the applicant votes, the address from which federal and state
income tax returns are filed, and continuous residence will be evaluated. The Committees
of Selection are responsible for ascertaining legal residence of all applicants, and they are
authorized to reject the application of any person who is unable to verify legal residency in
the state designated by the applicant. State eligibility rules are explored in more detail in
the Q&A document updated annually by the American Secretary’s Office (Section III,
Questions 8-13) and appearing on the United States Rhodes Scholarship website,
www.rhodesscholar.org. The specified application materials are submitted directly to the
Secretary of the appropriate District Committee via the online application process.
Persons interested in applying for the Rhodes Scholarship are advised to begin
preparing for their applications well in advance of the annual October deadline. Gathering
the documents requested (an academic transcript, a photocopy of the birth certificate, etc.)
may take some time. Most particularly, applicants should give careful thought to the
preparation of a 1000-word essay in which they set forth in their own words their interests
and aspirations, and their detailed reasons for wishing to study the specific areas of
proposed academic work at Oxford. This statement is especially helpful to Committees in
their attempt to gain an understanding of an applicant’s strengths, and will be used by the
authorities in Oxford to determine the Rhodes Scholar-elect’s suitability for placement in
an academic program and a college at Oxford. In addition, applicants are asked to supply
a description of their activities during their college years.
Applicants are required to secure the formal endorsement of their college or university
and to also provide the names of at least five and no more than eight persons who have
agreed to write letters of recommendation. No fewer than four of these must be persons
under whom the applicant has done academic work at a college or university. Committees
of Selection also welcome letters from persons competent to comment on aspects of the
applicant’s character and interests as revealed in non-academic activities. Referees
submit letters via the online application process; letters submitted by the applicant cannot
be considered. Referees are asked to measure the applicant against the full range of the
Rhodes Scholarship criteria and not to speak solely to those attributes which would, for
example, be relevant to the evaluation of a student’s acceptability to a post-graduate
program.
Colleges and universities have been invited to organize campus committees for the
purpose of meeting with prospective applicants to assess their relative merits. These
campus committees are encouraged to prepare evaluative letters of institutional
endorsement, also provided via the online process. Such arrangements will vary, of
course, with institutional circumstances. While applications will be considered by District
Committees of Selection even in the absence of such evaluative letters, a statement of
institutional endorsement is required for all applicants.

* * * * *

While only citizens of the United States are eligible for the Rhodes Scholarships
awarded in this country, Rhodes Scholarships are offered in many other jurisdictions.
Most of these constituencies regard their citizens who study in universities in the United
States as eligible for their own competition. Citizens of Bermuda, Canada, the
Commonwealth Caribbean (see Appendix for list of countries), Jamaica, Kenya, New
Zealand, Zambia and Zimbabwe may thus be eligible to apply in their own constituencies
on the basis of degrees from American universities. These country-specific rules may
change from time to time, so it is essential to check with the relevant National Rhodes
Secretary in advance.
Please note that the elections in virtually all of the other participating constituencies
take place before the elections in the United States. Eligibility requirements in other
countries vary, and eligibility decisions are made by the respective National Rhodes
Secretaries. Contact names and addresses for further information about these competitions
are available from The Rhodes Trust’s website, www.rhodestrust.ox.ac.uk.
In no instance may anyone apply in more than one country. Such dual application is
automatically disqualifying in both countries.

* * * * *

Additional details about Oxford and the Rhodes Scholarship selection process can be
found in the Q&A document updated annually by the American Secretary’s office and
available on the United States Rhodes Scholarship website, www.rhodesscholar.org.
Serious candidates are strongly urged to read this question and answer discussion
carefully.

* * * * * *

The Rhodes Trust and Oxford University require that selection for a Scholarship and
for admission to the University will be without regard to race, ethnic origin, colour,
religion, sexual orientation, social background, disability, or marital status.

The procedures for application are subject to modification from time to time. Persons interested in applying
for a Rhodes Scholarship should consult the most recent issue of the Memorandum of Regulations for the
current specifications of the application procedure. These are updated annually in the summer and available
at the United States Rhodes Scholarship website, www.rhodesscholar.org. Prospective applicants are also
encouraged to review the website carefully for further information about the Scholarships and Oxford, and
for the name of the Rhodes Scholarship representative at their college or university.
 APPENDIX
Distribution of the Rhodes Scholarships
United States* 32 Zambia 2
Canada 11 Zimbabwe 2
South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Bermuda 1
Malawi, Namibia, and Swaziland 10 Commonwealth Caribbean** 1
Australia 9 Hong Kong 1
India 5 Jamaica 1
New Zealand 3 Kenya 1
Germany 2 Pakistan 1
*Citizens of U.S. territories who have or will receive at least two years of college training and
a bachaelor’s degree from a U.S. college or university are eligible to apply in their college
or university state.
**The countries of the Commonwealth Caribbean are Anguilla, Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados,
Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica,
Montserrat, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago.

Election Districts in the United States

For the purpose of electing Rhodes Scholars the United States are divided into sixteen
Districts as designated below. The composition of the Districts may be adjusted year to
year based on the size of applicant pools. Each District Committee of Selection may elect
two Rhodes Scholars. In all, thirty-two may be elected annually.

1 2 3 4
Maine Connecticut New York Delaware
New Hampshire Massachusetts Pennsylvania
New Jersey West Virginia
Rhode Island
Vermont

5 6 7 8
Maryland/DC Georgia Alabama Louisiana
North Carolina Virginia Florida Oklahoma
Tennessee Texas

9 10 11 12
Indiana Illinois Iowa Arkansas
Kentucky Michigan Minnesota Kansas
Ohio Wisconsin Mississippi
Missouri
South Carolina

13 14 15 16
Colorado Alaska California-North* California-South**
Nebraska Idaho Hawaii Arizona
New Mexico Montana Nevada
North Dakota Oregon
South Dakota Washington
Utah Wyoming

*including the counties of Monterey, Kings, Tulare, and Inyo and those
counties to the North
** including the counties of San Luis Obispo, Kern, and San Bernadino and those
counties to the South
 Oxford Colleges
Most Rhodes Scholars go into residence in one of the predominantly undergraduate
colleges. There they may be admitted for either undergraduate or graduate degrees. A
few find that their studies may be more appropriately pursued in one of the graduate
colleges.

For Men and Women (Undergraduate and Graduate)

Balliol College (1263) Oriel College (1326)

Brasenose College (1509) Pembroke College (1624)
Christ Church (1546) The Queen’s College (1341)
Corpus Christi College (1517) St. Anne’s College (1879)
Exeter College (1314) St. Catherine’s College (1963)
Harris Manchester (1786) St. Edmund Hall (c.1278)
Hertford College (1740) St. Hilda’s College (1893)
Jesus College (1571) St. Hugh’s College (1886)
Keble College (1870) St. John’s College (1555)
Lady Margaret Hall (1878) St. Peter’s College (1929)
Lincoln College (1427) Somerville College (1879)
Magdalen College (1458) Trinity College (1554-5)
Mansfield College (1886) University College (1249)
Merton College (1264) Wadham College (1610)
New College (1379) Worcester College (1714)

For Men and Women (Graduate)

Green Templeton College (2008) St. Antony’s College (1950)

Linacre College (1962) St. Cross College (1965)
Nuffield College (1937) Wolfson College (1966)

For Part-time and Continuing Education Students

Kellogg College (1990)

Election by Fellowship Only

All Soul’s College (1438)

And Private Halls

Blackfriars
Campion Hall
Greyfriars
Regent’s Park
St. Benet’s Hall
St. Stephen’s House
Wycliffe Hall

The Rhodes Scholarships are tenable at the University of Oxford. Persons interested
in applying for the Scholarships should make certain that the University of Oxford
offers programs appropriate to their undergraduate emphasis and to their plans for
further study. They should also make certain that the two or three years offered by
the Rhodes Scholarship will allow a pattern of academic work in Oxford which fits
into their career plans.
 Suggestions for Further Reading
(Some of the books are no longer in print but should be available in university libraries.)

RHODES AND THE RHODES SCHOLARSHIPS

Legacy: Cecil Rhodes, The Rhodes Trust and Rhodes Scholarships, Philip Ziegler. Yale University
Press, 2008.
The History of the Rhodes Trust 1902-1999, edited by Sir Anthony Kenny. Oxford University Press,
Oxford, 2001.
The Founder: Cecil Rhodes and the Pursuit of Power, Robert I. Rotberg. Oxford University Press,
New York, 1988.
The American Rhodes Scholarships, Frank Aydelotte. Princeton University Press, 1946.
Cecil Rhodes, J.G. Lockhart and C.M. Woodhouse. The Macmillan Company, New York, 1963.
Cecil Rhodes: Flawed Colossus, Brian Roberts. W. W. Norton, 1988.
Rhodes Scholars, Oxford and the Creation of an American Elite, Thomas J. and Kathleen Schaeper.
Berghahn Books, Providence, 2007.
The First Fifty Years of the Rhodes Trust and the Rhodes Scholarships, Lord Elton, ed.
Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1955.

OXFORD: History and General Information

This Secret Garden: Oxford Revisited, Justin Cartwright. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, UK, 2008.
Clarendon Guide to Oxford, A. R. Woolley. Oxford University Press.
The Encyclopaedia of Oxford, Christopher Hibbert. Macmillan, London, 1988.
A History of Oxford University, V. H. H. Green. Batsford, 1974.
The History of the University of Oxford, Vol. VIII, The Twentieth Century, Brian Harrison (ed.),
Oxford University Press, 1994.
The Illustrated History of Oxford University, John Prest, ed. Oxford University Press, 1993.
Oxford, J. Morris. Oxford University Press, New York, 1978.
The Oxford Book of Oxford, J. Morris, ed. Oxford University Press, New York, 1978.
Oxford Life in Oxford Archives, W. A. Pantin. The Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1972.
The Decline of Privilege: The Modernization of Oxford University, Joseph A. Soares. Stanford
University Press, 1999.

OXFORD: Programs of Study and other Academic Information

The University of Oxford Undergraduate Prospectus
The University of Oxford Graduate Studies Prospectus
Both prospectuses are accessible from the University of Oxford’s website at www.ox.ac.uk.
University of Oxford Examination Decrees and Regulations
is published annually and is available for purchase from Oxford University Press, 116 High Street,
Oxford OX1 4BZ, England. It is also excerpted on the Oxford web site.
The purpose of this brochure is to inform prospective applicants and their advisors
about the special character of the Rhodes Scholarships and the opportunities for
study which they provide in one of the world’s most ancient and distinguished
universities. For convenience, the discussion is divided into three parts. The first
provides a brief sketch of the history of the Rhodes Scholarships; the second
describes Oxford’s approach to learning; and the third discusses the procedures for
application, criteria for selection, and the selection process in the United States.

An Appendix provides the following information: a statement of the worldwide

distribution of the Rhodes Scholarships; a table showing the States of the Union
grouped into the sixteen Districts formed for the purpose of electing Rhodes
Scholars in the United States; and a list of Oxford colleges, with dates of
foundation. Publications useful for further information are also listed.

The Rhodes Trust and Oxford University require that selection for a Scholarship
and for admission to the University will be without regard to marital status, race,
ethnic origin, colour, religion, sexual orientation, social background, or disability.

Office of the American Secretary

The Rhodes Trust
8229 Boone Boulevard, Suite 240
Vienna, Virginia 22182
amsec@rhodesscholar.org
www.rhodesscholar.org

July 201-